When a wireless communication device (WCD) is handed over from a source wireless coverage area to a target wireless coverage area, it is desirable for the WCD and the radio access network (RAN) to know which one of possibly many nearby wireless coverage areas is the target. Therefore, wireless coverage areas may be assigned identifiers so that they can be distinguished from one another. These identifiers, however, may be selected from a limited space. This, and the increasing density of wireless coverage, can lead to one or more wireless coverage areas in the vicinity of the target wireless coverage area to have the same identifier. In such a circumstance, the WCD could be handed over to the wrong wireless coverage area.